“I hardly dare hope that you will remember me. I know I don’t deserve that you should; but I know, also, that you are too steadfast and too good to cast me off for a seeming negligence to which my heart and soul are averse, and the appearance of which I have incessantly regretted. What can I say in my defence? I have been very unhappy; now ’tis over I will venture to tell you so, that you may not ‘lose the dues of rejoicing.’ ‘Envy, malice, detraction, all the fiends of hell have compassed me round about to destroy me’; ‘but blessed be God who hath given me the victory,’ &c. I have been charged with almost everything bad, except incontinence, and it is attributed to me as thinking a woman may be guilty of every crime in the catalogue of crimes, provided she retain her chastity. “God help them and forgive them, they know but little of me. I daresay you will wonder that a favourite should stand her ground so long; and in truth so do I. I have been degraded; I am now again the favourite servant of the public, and I have kept the noiseless tenor of my temper in these extremes. My spirit has been grieved, but my victorious faith upholds me. I look forward to a better world for happiness, and am placed in this in mercy to be a candidate for that. But what makes the wound rankle deeper is that ingratitude, hypocrisy, and perfidy have barbed the darts. But it is over, and I am happy. Good God! what would I give to see you both, but for an hour! How many thousand, thousand times do I wish myself with you, and long to unburthen my heart to you. I can’t bear the idea of your being so long absent. I know you will expect to hear what I have been doing; and I wish I could do this to your satisfaction. Suffice it to say that I have acted Lady Macbeth, Desdemona, and several other things this season with the most unbounded approbation; and you have no idea how the innocence and playful simplicity of the latter have laid hold on the hearts of the people. I am very much flattered by this, as nobody ever has done anything with that character before. My brother is charming in _Othello_; indeed, I must do the public the justice to say that they have been extremely indulgent, if not partial, to every character I have performed.